


And they all fall down

by amuk



Series: The Beaten Path [14]
Category: Naruto
Genre: Action, Battle, Friendship, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Loss
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-01-28
Updated: 2013-01-28
Packaged: 2017-11-27 05:58:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 440
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/658711
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/amuk/pseuds/amuk
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>There is nothing to be done, nothing at all, and that is the hardest pill to swallow.</p>
            </blockquote>





	And they all fall down

**Author's Note:**

> So, when Ino enters a fic, she takes over it. 
> 
> Prompt: Day 4 // burning/ignite

“No!” She screeches, hands clawing the air fruitlessly as Ino holds her back. “No!” She tries to elbow her, tries to release the unwanted shackles of her arms. Knocking her head back, she hears a muffled yelp before the arms constrict even further.

 

“You can’t do anything,” Ino hisses back, her nose red from the hit. “Nothing!”

 

“But, Sasuke-kun,” and her eyes widen, panicky, as she watches his figure slowly crumple, the air wild with magic and mayhem. It’s bright, almost too bright, and she can’t make out his opponent, only the dark of his hair and the strength of his stance.  He moves, like quicksilver, like the monsters they have been running from (but not far enough, never far enough, for he caught up) and—“NO!” 

 

“SAKURA!” Ino yells this time, fingers digging into Sakura’s skin as she pulls her back. They are far as it is, far enough that they won’t be taken as a threat and attacked next.

 

(It’s never far enough)

 

 Ino views the destroyed landscape, the bodies that lie scattered between her and the fight. There is no one else she can save, not until it is over. Her eyes fall on a dulled orange and she tries not to think of how still Naruto is.

 

She jerks back one more time, over the crest of the hill, and the two girls tumble to the ground, rolling down before coming to a halt in the valley. Before Sakura can claw her way up, Ino pins her down with a firm tackle.

 

“Sakura, it’s too late.”

 

The girl stills at that comment. Ino’s shoulders slump slightly, her face pressing into Sakura’s messy tangles.  “I can’t lose you too.”

 

There is a flash of blinding light, and Ino knows it’s over. Whatever happened up there is done with and she releases her hold.

 

No one moves for a long while, the dark enveloping them as Sakura’s hand grasps hers. They remain there, no longer afraid (there is nothing left to lose, now is there?) and Sakura is the one to break the silence, sitting up as she does so.

 

“I...” And there are no tears in her eyes, no sobs in her breath. Only a void and Ino thinks they’ll cry later, when reality sinks in, embedding on tired bones and strained muscles. After they return to the bodies, and maybe some are alive, maybe Naruto is unconscious and Shikamaru is hiding like the coward he is and—

 

And maybe, tomorrow a dozen shallow graves will have to be dug, the location carved into their memories.

 

Now, though, she leans against Sakura and waits for the dawn.


End file.
